


Talk To Me

by swiftishere



Series: MSA One-Shots [28]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Medium!Arthur (Mystery Skulls Animated), arthur makes a valiant attempt to communicate, diverges at Ghost, what if we talked in your weird ghost mansion crypt (and we were both boys)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27931225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: All Arthur wants to do is pick himself up and bolt down the hallway behind him.But he doesn't. He scrambles to his feet and stays put.(Against all his instincts, Arthur tries to reason with the ghost menacing him, because he can feel something deeper underneath the anger. It has... interesting results.)
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA One-Shots [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1440190
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83





	Talk To Me

The ghost draws ever closer, sheets of fire curling off him to match the waves of raw emotion that pound against Arthur's heart. He feels _everything_ the ghost feels, and it's _so much_ , and it makes it all too obvious just _how much_ the wraith wants to kill him. All he wants to do is pick himself up and bolt down the hallway behind him.

But he doesn't. He scrambles to his feet and stays put.

The first thing he feels from him is waves of anger, an emotion obvious even if he wasn't attuned to it, because it's written on the skull as clear as day. But there's more underneath it, feelings far less violent. Determination, in a thin shell-like layer, followed closely by nerves. Loss, grief, a sense of betrayal, fear. Regret, guilt, a quiet deadness that startles him - a broken heart. The soul is _weeping_ , and the anger only exists to mask it. Not well enough, because he's screaming so loud that any medium could feel the emotion he's trying to push down.

This ghost isn't just angry or evil or violent. Something _terrible_ happened to him, warped him into this fury.

The rational and fearful parts of his mind are clamoring at him to _go get Vivi_ , because she'll be far calmer and maybe the ghost won't be so bent on killing her - but he has no idea where she is, and she's no good at talking about feelings anyway. Not that Arthur is much better, but he's the only one here right now.

_What would Lewis say if he were here?_

He takes a couple deep breaths, backing up as the ghost slowly approaches and trying to get his uselessly spinning mind to form some sort of coherent, helpful thought. "Okay," he mutters under his breath, hoping the ghost doesn't hear and get angrier, "okay."

"Why..." he begins slowly, "d-do you want to hurt me? What's wrong?"

" _Why?_ " the ghost spits, and he flinches in spite of himself. " _You_ ** _killed_** _me! That's why!_ "

"I've never s-s-seen you before in my- in my life."

The only response to that is a sudden flare of fire and anger as the ghost's scowl deepens, and okay, he thinks Arthur's someone he knew, and he's not going to just accept the truth. Maybe... maybe he could figure it out on his own, if Arthur led him to it.

"Okay. No, I'm s-sorry," he backpedals. " _Why_ did I kill you?"

The anger ebbs a little, overtaken by confusion which is quickly shoved aside. That question caught him off-guard, however momentarily. "Because... you were _jealous_. You wanted Vivi for yourself. And **_me_** _out of the way_."

Oh, yikes, same name, huh? No wonder the ghost is so convinced he's his murderer.

" _How_ did I kill you?" Even Arthur isn't sure where he's going with this, but he has to try _something_. Talking is the only thing keeping the ghost from just burning a hole through his chest, he's pretty sure.

"You _pushed me_ off a ledge. In the cave, I _fell and died on a spike_. You _lured me up there,_ lured me _into_ the cave, drew everyone in there for some _plot_ , and then when we went off alone you sprung your trap- but-" he pauses, confusion flickering again. "But you never wanted to go in there in the first place... you tried to _stop_ us. Wait-"

But Arthur's no longer listening, because he's just realized with sick shock and horror that he _does_ know this ghost.

_It can't be Lewis_ , a part of him insists, desperate and panicking, but the evidence is overwhelming. He _was_ talking about _their_ Vivi, about the _cave_ , remembering _specific details_ _and_ \- and he _looked_ the same, too, even as a skeleton the build and hair were an _exact match_ -

Oh _god_ , Lewis is dead. And is claiming _he'd_ killed him. And so _convinced_ , he can _feel the anger_ curled around his soul - it's so _alien_ , so _wrong_ , coming from him. He really believes Arthur killed him - for _Vivi_ \- and he's _furious_ about it.

_"Tell me, Arthur,"_ the ghost says, speaking louder again and focusing back on him, "did you plan it? Did you know, when we went to the cave, what you were going to do? Or did you decide in the moment, when you saw that cliff?"

"Cliff? I-" his voice is failing him, growing weaker by the second, and all he can do is stare helplessly. "I did- I didn't kill you! I w- would- I wouldn't ever! What- what _happened?"_

A _growl_ escapes the ghost, a sound of pure rage barely contained. "Why do you sound so damn _innocent?_ So _clueless?_ Quit acting and just be _honest!_ We _both_ know what you did!"

It's Lewis's voice but distorted, and a sound he would _never_ have made. Anger doesn't suit him, it feels poisonous just to _watch_. He knows Lewis's soul like his own, but this feels _warped_ , _broken_ , such a mismatch from the person he knows. The ghost drifts a little closer, looming over him, eyes burning into his, and he can't bring himself to respond, just stare into that dead, furious gaze.

He takes a wobbly step back. The hallway behind him is still open. He could still use it to run. Maybe, if he could be faster than the ghost just for a bit, he could go find Vivi. Get help. Surely Lewis wouldn't hurt _her_ , right? No matter how angry he is? So he'd just have to outrun him until he got to her, and then he'd be okay.

Okay, there's no way he'd be faster than Lewis. But he has to cling to the idea that he can still run away, or he's going to just give up and faint.

"Lewis, I- I _didn't_ \- I'd _never_ hur- hurt you. You know th-th-that! _Please_ , don't..."

"You- _rrgh!"_ For a moment, bone-plated gloves cover the skeletal face, and he shakes his head. Waves of fire pound against Arthur's skin. In a sudden flash of understanding, he realizes they're not just coming from the ghost - they're coming from the _heart_.

Vivi's rambling half-lessons about parabiology wash through his head, and a stupid idea starts to form.

While the ghost is still distracted - wrestling with himself - Arthur steps forward, somehow fighting his uncooperative body into working for just a moment. With shaking fingers, he snatches the beating golden heart right off the ghost's chest, and then scrambles backwards, tensing up and ready to run.

But Lewis doesn't chase him, or react with anger at all. He just... _stops_ , hanging there, expression going slack. Stunned, like someone's cut his strings.

Arthur can only see that for a moment before the anchor overwhelms him.

He drops to his knees, vision taken over by flickering, impossibly bright pink light. Pins and needles and an oppressive _heat_ that makes it hard to breathe race across his skin, a spectral fire that feels as though it'll drown him alive. He's dizzy, fevered, disoriented by the temperature until he can't tell which way is up. That wretched _anger_ wraps its roots around him. He can't tell if it's his own emotion or an intruder, he wants to _snap_ the heart he's holding clean in two, but his fingers are numb around it and too weak to move...

Just when he thinks that something _has_ to kill him, if only to make it stop, the sensations start to fade, the clamor around him dropping away. He's left shivering, still too warm, his head swimming. The world is still tinted pink around the edges, and growing darker every time he blinks. But the anchor is solidly gold, even though it's dimming and cracked around the edges...

Oh, _no_ , that's not _good-_ he didn't hurt it, did he? With a weak gasp he tries to turn it over in his hands, but it slips from them and clatters to the ground. He lets his hands drop on the floor to steady him, shoulders heaving.

He glances upwards. Lewis is staring down at him. He's pretty sure it's not just the world going dark - the ghost is faded, half-transparent.

"What... did... you..." he says, voice as weak as Arthur feels. "Who... _are_ you?" He floats downward, as if to approach him.

Then he vanishes entirely, turning into pink fire that swirls around the anchor, and then the world fades away and Arthur feels himself falling. The last thing he does is try to steer himself to the side, so he can curl around the heart.


End file.
